Integrating SAP Business Objects Xcelsius and Web Intelligence reporting with SAP NetWeaver BW and SAP NetWeaver Porta

1. Session ID: BI212 Integrating SAP Business Objects Xcelsius and Web Intelligence reporting with SAP NetWeaver BW and SAP NetWeaver Portal Presented By: Mustansir Saifuddin October 20, 2010

2. Agenda The new face of BI …. With BOBJ Available Tools and Integration Points Project Approach and Resource Requirements BEX Queries and OLAP Universe Deploying a Dashboard Portal Integration and SSO The Experience

3. SAP Landscape with Business Objects SAP NetWeaver SAP NetWeaver Portal Any Portal, Any Destination SAP BusinessObjects POA EPM GRC EPM GRC SAP BEx Information Foundation SAP BusinessObjectsEnterprise Live Office Pioneer WEBI SAP NetWeaver Portal Enterprise Applications Enterprise Applications Explorer Xcelsius Crystal Reports ECC Financials Operations Human Resources Logistics Corporate Services ECC Financials Operations Human Resources Logistics Corporate Services Data Quality Management For SAP/CRM Real-time Validation Duplication SAP NetWeaverBW Accelerator Master Data Governance SAP Bex Queries Excel Analyzer Web Analyzer Lifecycle Management SAP NetWeaverBW Accelerator Master Data Governance Master Data Management SAP NetWeaver Business Warehouse Metadata Management, Information Lifecycle Management Information Access Data Federator Master Data Management SAP NetWeaver Business Warehouse Process Integration Open HUB Content Extractors Data Quality CRM SCM CRM SCM Data Federator Data Profiling Data Services ETL/DQ SAP Business Suite SAP Business Suite SRM PLM SRM PLM 3rd-Party Databases and Applications 3rd-Party Databases and Applications

4. Why Business Objects • Now part of the SAP Business Intelligence suite of tools • Tight integration with SAP BW and ECC • More Reporting Options • Better Presentation Layer • User Friendly Tools • Intuitive User Interface

5. Serving Different User Base • Meets the needs of different user base within the organization: • Executives and Managers • Business Analysts • Information Consumers

6. Agenda The new face of BI …. With BOBJ Available Tools and Integration Points Project Approach and Resource Requirements BEX Queries and OLAP Universe Deploying a Dashboard Portal Integration and SSO The Experience

7. Tools and Usage

8. Integration Points and Architecture Components Xcelsius Query as a WebService Live Office Crystal Reports Web Intelligence (Webi) OLAP Universe SAP BW BEX Query Direct Access Multi Provider Infocube 8

9. More Streamlined Connectivity – BEX to Xcelsius Xcelsius • BI Consumer Services BICS Connectivity • Technical Requirements: • SAP NetWeaver BW 7.01 (SAP enhancement package 01), Service Pack 05 • SAP BusinessObjects Xcelsius Enterprise 2008 Service Pack 02 • SAP Frontend 7.x installed on the client with BI Add-Ons Query as a WebService Live Office Web Intelligence (Webi) Crystal Reports OLAP Universe SAP BW BEX Query Direct Access Multi Provider Infocube

10. Building Blocks

11. Agenda The new face of BI …. With BOBJ Available Tools and Integration Points Project Approach and Resource Requirements BEX Queries and OLAP Universe Deploying a Dashboard Portal Integration and SSO The Experience

12. Project Approach • Start with a Proof of Concept (POC) • Define Scope (both for POC and full implementation) • Number of KPI’s to be captured in POC • KPI’s required for the go live • Identify any Drill Down Reports • Use Production or Production Like Data • Identify your Audience • Senior Management • C level Executives • Others

13. Resource Requirements • Team Requirement and Collaboration: • BI/BOBJ Architect and Project Manager • Identify BW Resource(s) • Pick the Business User/SME to guide the project Team • Basis Resource: • Knowledge of Business Objects Environment • SAP Integration Kit • Enterprise Portal support • Business Objects Developer(s)

14. Agenda The new face of BI …. With BOBJ Available Tools and Integration Points Project Approach and Resource Requirements BEX Queries and OLAP Universe Deploying a Dashboard Portal Integration and SSO The Experience

15. Use of BEX Queries as a Source for BOBJ • BEX queries have a one to one relationship to a BOBJ Universe • This is identified as an OLAP Universe • In order for the Universe to access the BEX query • Check the “Allow External Access” checkbox in query properties • Also check the settings in RSRT transaction called “Use selection of Structure Members”. This allows Business Objects to read the structures in BEX query • Try maintaining the reporting logic in BEX by utilizing exit variables to determine time and other complex computations if possible

16. Use of BEX Queries as a Source for BOBJ • Be mindful of the changes made to the BEX query • A Universe refresh is required every time a change is made to the BEX query • Use inclusion filters instead of exclusions when using certain values or value ranges for a characteristics • Check your query output by using MDXTEST transaction in BW that allows you to debug any issues Note: You do not need a BI Query for every report and you do not need a universe for every BI Query

17. BEX Query and OLAP Universe • A universe on top of BEX query is an OLAP Universe • No table joins etc. are required in this type of Universe • This is a major difference between relational database universe and OLAP based • The following screen shot shows the “Refresh Structure” setting • These settings allows the developer to sync up the Bex query to the Universe

18. SAP BW OLAP Universes - Terminologies

19. BEX Query Designer

20. Comparable OLAP Universe on Top of BEX Query

21. Universe Settings for BEX Queries • Hide Level 00 in the Universe definition • Remove L01 suffix from the object names and update the text to reflect user friendly names • Use “Single Sign On When refreshing reports at view time” option as the authentication mode

22. Agenda The new face of BI …. With BOBJ Available Tools and Integration Points Project Approach and Resource Requirements BEX Queries and OLAP Universe Deploying a Dashboard Portal Integration and SSO The Experience

23. Elements of Xcelsius

24. Important Phases and Connectivity Model • Data Model design • Dashboard Front End Design • Dashboard Excel Design • SAP BI-Xcelsius connectivity Sap Bex Query BI Consumer Services Connector Business Objects Universe QAAWS/ Live Office Xcelsius Dashboard 24

25. Data Model Design for Dashboards • As the end product is a Dashboard, the SAP BI backend data model should be designed very specifically keeping in mind the following aspects: • Business Requirement • Dashboard performance • Complexity balance: Front-end/Back-end • Total development time • Change Management– Key Aspect due to management visibility • Connectivity model

26. Guidelines for deploying a Dashboard • Architectural Guidelines • Dashboard Load Times. Define a criteria < 10 Seconds? • Consistency in Results – design needs to minimize the opportunity to duplicate calculations or arrive at different results • Flexibility in Dashboards and Queries/Reports • Identify the level of effort for any design changes • Examples: Aesthetic changes VS adding new KPI’s • “Simplicity” should rule the design in Xcelsius and reports • Keep ongoing maintenance in mind • Turn around time • Ease of Use for End users

27. Xcelsius Dashboard Best Practices • Define a standard look and feel for the corporate dashboard • Color schemes • Corporate logo • Pick the data connection that works for your situation • Query as a Web Services (QAAWS) • Live Office (LO) connection • Define KPI’s that provide a high level overview of the data • Allow drill down capabilities in to more detailed Webi reports • To answer any further questions prompted from dashboard

28. Operational Budget Dashboard

29. Additional Tips for Dashboard Design • In the object browser group the design elements in a logical manner • A few things to consider when choosing the design components • Ease of Analysis • Naming convention for the component • Use of Filters and panels • Color Scheme

30. Dashboard Excel Design • Use the following tips: • Formula Optimization • Use of Vlookups • Color legends • Use different excel sheets per different mapping scenarios • Use of headings and comments with proper description

31. BOBJ Adhoc Capabilities • Web Intelligence (Webi) tool is known for its Adhoc capabilities • Leverage the same Universe used for creating the Dashboard for creating on demand reports to do more detail analysis • Users can create their own Webi reports via Infoview (BOBJ Portal) that can be integrated in to Enterprise Portal • Leverage the SSO capabilities that allows seamless integration between Enterprise Portal, Infoview and backend BW system

32. Where can Web Intelligence add value? • Customer requirements • Self-service reporting and analysis, autonomy from IT • Simple user interface, designed for the masses • Combine data from SAP and non-SAP data in a single report • Connectivity to SAP • SAP and non-SAP data in a single report • Rich feature set • Connectivity to SAP • Sits on top of Business Objects Enterprise Universes • Universes connect to SAP NetWeaver BI via OLAP BAPI • Access objects: BEx Queries & SAP BI Info Cubes

33. Support of BW Variables in Webi’s

34. Web Intelligence Publications • Publications in Business Objects Enterprise (BOE) plays a similar role to Information Broadcasting in BW • Publications allows you to schedule a Crystal Report/Web Intelligence object for distribution to end users • Prerequisites – Publications with SAP BW Security: • BI authorizations are configured in SAP BI • Server side trust being granted between SAP BI and BOE • SAP authentication configured in BOE • SAP user and roles imported to BOE and available as recipients • OLAP Universe deployed with SSO as authentication method • Web Intelligence report being created and available in BOE • Publication being created as multi-pass bursting process (one fetch per recipient)

35. Agenda The new face of BI …. With BOBJ Available Tools and Integration Points Project Approach and Resource Requirements BEX Queries and OLAP Universe Deploying a Dashboard Portal Integration and SSO The Experience

36. Integrating BOBJ into Enterprise Portal • Xcelsius Dashboards, Web Intelligence and Crystal Reports can be integrated into Enterprise Portal • Allows users a consistent look and feel for their reports and dashboards • Leverages SSO functionality thus enhancing user experience as a whole • Couple of Integration options: • Knowledge Management (KM) content can be used to integrate BOBJ content into Portal • OpenDoc URL Iviews can be configured in Portal to provide direct link to Dashboard and reports

37. Data Journey and Authentication Path

38. BOBJ Transport AKA Life Cycle Management • Life Cycle Management (LCM) acts as the transport system to move BOBJ development objects between environments • Examples Include: • Universe • Connections • Webi Reports • Xcelsius Dashboard • Custom Access Lists (CAL’s) – BOBJ Authorization

39. LCM Steps • Following steps are involved in moving objects from Dev to QA or Prod environments: • Create a new job by clicking on this icon • You must be logged on to source system • Add the necessary objects • Always verify dependencies between objects • Some example sequence include: • Report => Universe => Connection • Once the object collection is complete a “Test Promotion” can be performed. This allows for a quick sanity check before actually promoting objects to target system

40. LCM Do’s and Don’ts • Schedule your LCM job similar to how you would setup your SAP transports to a target system • Use consistent naming conventions when creating the LCM jobs • Avoid promoting dependencies if they are already in the target system • Use rollback mechanism if you have to restore the destination system to its prior state • Only use this option if you have to quickly restore the target system • Use this option sparingly as it takes up disk space

41. Agenda The new face of BI …. With BOBJ Available Tools and Integration Points Project Approach and Resource Requirements BEX Queries and OLAP Universe Deploying a Dashboard Portal Integration and SSO The Experience

42. Impact of Business Objects • Adding Business Objects in your current landscape adds complexity • Newer skill sets above and beyond BW are required • More Integration points (or more Pain Points introduced) in the environment • Maintenance challenges with a new set of components and upgrades to deal with • Evolving architecture

43. Key Learnings • Xcelsius: • Users can consume and analyze a lot of information in a meaningful way • Information at the executives fingertips via tabs, filters with telling graphical representation • Web Intelligence: • Webi reports reduces time to develop formatted reports with much more capability on an Adhoc basis • Webi reports provide power users ability to modify queries and reports like BEX • Webi reports provides executives and light information workers quick insight into their data

44. Payback • An enhanced user experience • Business Objects covers a wide spectrum of user base in the organization • Something for everybody • More business ownership less IT dependency • An opportunity to move away from Excel and Access based custom solutions • Provide insights in to your data at the highest level in the organization – Folks who are making critical business decisions

45. Contact Info Session ID: BI212 Email: mustansir@isolutionpartners.com Web: www.isolutionpartners.com Mustansir Saifuddin